List of NME number-one singles of the 1980s

NME was the first record chart in the United Kingdom based on sales having imitated an idea started in American Billboard magazine on 14 November 1952.

Prior to 15 February 1969, when the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) chart was established as part of a joint commission by Record Retailer and the BBC,[1] there was no one universally accepted or official source and many periodicals compiled their own chart.

[6] From 19 February 1983 to 22 September 1984, the new NME chart was broadcast weekly on Capital Radio's Pick of the Pops Take Two, presented by Alan Freeman; this show also featured archive NME charts.

Notable differences when compared to the official chart run by BMRB and, later, Gallup are an additional two number-one singles in the decade for Rick Astley, David Bowie, Spandau Ballet and Phil Collins.

[7] Eighteen acts achieved a number-one single on the NME chart but never had an official number-one single[nb 1] although two of these had songs they had written reach number one when performed by another artist.

Dionne Warwick was one of 18 acts in the 1980s who made number one in NME but never had a number one on the Official Charts .
The Steve Miller Band (pictured in 2009) had their first number one on the NME chart (with " Abracadabra ") a decade before they had their first "official" number one.